Netflix has unveiled the first footage from ‘Heeramandi: The Diamond Bazaar,’ a period drama series by Bollywood’s supreme on-screen stylist Sanjay Leela Bhansali.
Netflix describes the series as “an epic saga of love, power, revenge and freedom [which] promises to be a profound celebration of art, culture, beauty, and Bhansali’s legacy.” It also describes the series as a “passion project” that Bhansali has worked on for some 14 years.
With a cast that includes Manisha Koirala, Sonakshi Sinha, Aditi Rao Hydari, Sharmin Segal, Richa Chadha, and Sanjeeda Sheikh, the series is set amid multiple power struggles in Heeramandi, Lahore (now part of Pakistan), and more generally in undivided, pre-independence India, where anti-colonial freedom movements were emerging.
The film revolves around a young heir caught in the crossfire and chooses love over succession, thus disrupting the status quo. It also describes how the final thread holding the art of tawaifs, or courtesans, is put to the test.
Produced by Bhansali Productions, the show will be uploaded to Netflix later this year at an unspecified date.
Bhansali made his mark choreographing the songs of Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s “1942: A Love Story” (1994). He made his first film as director with “Khamoshi: The Musical,” which won acclaim but struggled at the box office. He developed his recipe of lavish visuals, high melodrama, and soaring music with “Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam” in 1999, achieving critical and commercial success. He followed that with the breakout hit “Devdas” in 2002.
The director has already begun work on his 2025 feature movie, “Love & War”. He recently announced the casting of Bollywood megastars and real-life power couple Ranbir Kapoor and Alia Bhatt will star alongside Vicky Kaushal.
